DIY Lighted Columns
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- I am posting this in response to requests I had about how to make these lighted columns. I originally saw a picture of them online and decided to try and make them myself. They are reasonably easy to make. A knowledge of woodworking and having the right equipment helps a lot (like a chop saw, a table saw, and a nail gun), but you can make the bottoms and the tops of the columns with more basic tools if need be (like a skill saw and nails or screws).
Material list for the columns:
4, 4'x8' sheets of natural colored Coroplast ($12-15 a sheet)
2, 1"x6"x10' boards for the bases
2, 1"x4"x10' boards for the tops
1 roll of good quality, clear packing tape
paint for the bases and caps.
Tools:
Box cutter
Straight edge (I used a wood sign)
Pizza roller
Saw (or saws)
Nails or screw
Hammer or screw gun
Actual light equipment used:
4 Chauvet SlimPAR 38 LED Cans (we purchased restocked lights to cut down on cost)
4 DMX cables
1 Chauvet Obey 70 DMX Lighting Controller (again, we purchased a restocked controller to help with cost)
I just finished making two of these columns based on your video. They are currently on our church stage. And they look absolutely wonderful. Thanks again for sharing..
We made 4 of these columns for our church's stage and then 2 smaller ones. They look great!! Thank you so much for sharing this brilliant idea...really gave us a clean looking stage setup.
So glad they worked well for you, Kiki!
AWESOME JOB... AND GREAT STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS......YOU MADE IT PLAIN AND CLEAR!!
Thx for this! Im a speaker and i try to teach efficient DIY staging to my speakers. You have blessed me! And i also know how to measure saw and cut as well, so Im empowered for sure! Lol...thx
I just made my first 4 light columns for a play that is aking place in Harlem, NY. It cost me a total of $500 for all the supplies, equipment (brand new), and tools to finish it. They look great and I love the versatility of what I can use them for. I am going to get a good amount of work renting them out to local music video directors and photographers. You can not beat this setup for adding production value inexpensively. Thanks for posting. I may post an update video that includes the vendors that have all the materials cheap.
Great idea and thanks so much for providing this very thorough DIY video. I just made (2) of these columns myself for my man cave where I spend time playing my guitar. I actually found a much cheaper alternative to the Chauvet SlimPAR 38 LED can lights.The Chauvet SlimPAR 38 LED can lights retail for $70/each at Guitar Center. They are fantastic lights but a bit pricey. I ended up using the Hitlights Luma10 High Density LED 16.4 foot long self-stick light strip. I was able to get a 16.4 foot roll of Luma10 High Density LED lights for around $44 from Amazon (actually sold by Hitlights.com) which includes the power supply and 44-key RGB remote controller. The Luma10 High Density roll has 300 lights (versus 150 for low density). One 16.4 foot spool of lights were used for my (2) lighted columns. Total cost for (2) columns was around $90which included a couple of connectors required to mate with (1) power supply. My lighted columns look great with no "hot spots" when turned on. Lighting is pretty even throughout the column. Hitlights also has a music controller that I am going to purchase which will allow the columns to be synced to music. Hitlights.com also provided me with great service. I sent them a diagram of what I wanted to achieve and they provided immediate feedback.
Sounds awesome, Larry! When I originally built these, our youth pastor had just purchased the Par lights and the controller, so I utilized what I had on hand. I always wondered what they'd look like with LED tape instead of the PARs. If I were building them today, I would definitely look into using the self-adhesive LED tape, but I'd want to pair it with a DMX controller as well.
Larry Lee where did you attach the led strip?
+Rjarrod Poke I attached it directly to the inside of one of the inner walls within the 1'x1'x7' coroplast "cube".
+James Coulter Ask and ye shall receive...that is exactly what I am about to do. I think I have figured out a way to individually control my lighted towers and create lighting sequences to my backing tracks (I play some electric guitar). I have been communicating with Federico at SIRS-E on this design who has been extremely helpful. My plan is to use Enttec Show Buddy Software connected to an Enttec DMXIS. The DMXIS will be connected to (2) 6 channel controllers (LED-CON6-R2). The number of controllers will depend on how many lighted towers you want to individually control. The LED-CON6-R2 controller has 6 channels and will therefore talk to (2) towers. So, if you have more than (2) lighted towers with RGB light strips you will need to purchase additional controllers and daisy chain them. A 400W 12v power supply will connect to the channel controllers. An additional option would be to connect a Boss Footswitch to the DMXIS so I can have the ability to control when to advance my songs and lighting program while on stage without being near my computer. Any interested parties who want to see my diagram feel free to email me at larry.lee@verizon.com. These towers are really lightweight and awesome for parties. They provide a great ambiance on the back porch during parties at night.
Nice Job James, Very Clear & Helpful Instructions! Thks For Posting This Info
Made my first 10' coroplast column. The main problem I had was scoring it with the pizza roller and making it bend into the form of a square. Hopefully, the next one will be better. Also, it helps when you have 2 people to help you tape the corners...thanks for the video..
Love it. Good job 👏. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for a great presentation on "how to".
Thank you!
Nice! Love it would be awesome in a game room!
Amazing stuff. Want to try this for sure. Looks great!
Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that I haven't responded to the requests on here. Honestly, this is the first time that I've checked this video since posting it, and I was shocked to see over 8,100 views and so many comments.
Though it seems like all of the questions have been answered, let me quickly say that while Home Depot and Lowes will occasionally carry some form of coroplast, I have never seen it in the natural color at either of those businesses. You'll have to go to a coroplast distributor for that, and you can find those using the site www.coroplast.com/distributor/ I had to drive about an hour and a half to get these, but it was well worth it.
Great video! Just stumbled upon it. Now thinking about how I can change some spaces with this set up.
Thank you! Post some pics or videos when you get them set up.
Thank so much!
Amazing! Thx for sharing!
Great video! Nice totems!
Thank you!
I love it.i am in a very tight budget but i got a tall box from my work and thats open on one side.do you think i can just use the parchment paper? And just the regular Led light which I can buy from dollar tree? I hope my plan will work.😬
I'd give it a try! Can't hurt!
Can I put a poster on it? Will lines be noticeable
Great Job!
Thank you!
Thanks, was looking to do this project
Great idea !!!! Do you know if you can place huge letters inside of the box to make it stand out from the lighting inside it???
Don't know for sure, but I would imagine that would work. Would love to see the final result if you've tried it.
Hey James. Thank you for posting this. Just wondering where I should look to buy the 4 x 8 sheets of color plast?
Thanks for sharing.
Man, I hope you are reading these post. It seems like the closest vendor for coroplast is in Knoxville, Tn. I am waiting to contact them on Monday. What city did you purchase your coroplast sheets?
+Don Williams, that's the one drag to using the Coroplast - if you are not in a major city, you may have to drive a bit to get some. I purchased ours in Greensboro, NC, which was about 2.5 hours away from us. Even with the high gas prices at the time, the cost for the trip was really minimal, and the resulting columns were worth the drive! Just call ahead and make sure they have the correct type of Coloplast sheets (4mm natural). Hope you find yours soon!
They did not carry the coroplast in Knoxville. Would you provide me the name and phone number of the company in Greensboro, NC? I would really like to construct these if I can find the natural color coloplast...thanks for your help!
Don, I'm sorry it took so long to get back with you. The place that I purchased the Coroplast from is either no longer in business or has changed names because it's no longer listed on the Coroplast web site (coroplast.com).
Did you ever find a supplier or come up with an alternative product? I'm in Winston-Salem NC and I've found a dealer in CA but they're saying they'll charge upwards of over 100.00 to ship 4 sheets. NOPE!
Where did you get the Natural Colored Coroplast from? I'm having a hard time tracking this specific color down
I know I'm late responding to this. I went to the coroplast web site and found a vendor there.
Home Depot only has the corrugated sheets in white. I cant find them in natural anywhere, where did you get yours from?
I got it from a supplier in NC. I found the supplier by using using the "find a distributor" option on the coroplast.com web site (www.coroplast.com/distributor/) Hope this helps
James Coulter Thank you! I will try using this as well.
Nice video. Can you tell me exactly where you got the Coroplast? I checked on Ebay and I didn't see any in Natural color or anything in this size. Can you please help me out?
I purchased some today from Sabic Polymershapes. They have locations all across the country and may have one near you. Our local one had the natural in stock and I got it for $12/sheet.
thank you so much!
Awesome
Is there an alternative material aside from coroplast? Can I use acrylic sheet?
There may be. I would imagine that some slightly frosted acrylic sheets would work just as well. However, they may prove difficult to shape/cut. The columns would also have a lot more weight to them and may be really top-heavy because of it These columns are very light. However, if you do go the acrylic route, please check back in and let me know how it worked!
ohh but thanks anyway :D
can you build on that has a different Coloplast I can't find that one close by
Unfortunately, in order for the light to be dispersed as it does in this video, you would have to use the natural color (not the white or clear). However, the clear color might look pretty cool as well. The columns probably wouldn't "glow" like they do in the natural color, but they might still prove to be a really cool look.
how to set up my obey 70 control
Very cool! What did you use for strobe?
Thank you, Bryan! The strobe effect is a setting on the Chauvet Obey 70 lighting controller. Most DMX controllers have a strobe setting.
Where did you buy the Coroplast for $15 a sheet? The cheapest I have found is $36 a sheet.
Michael, would you tell me where you bought the coroplast from? I cannot seem to find it anywhere in a 4' X 8' dimension.
@@donwilliams2685 The natural coroplast seems to be a bit of a unicorn. Lots of places carry the white, but natural is (in my experience) very difficult to find.
Could these support 25lb moving heads?
I wouldn't risk it. Coroplast is basically a plastic cardboard.
Im going to see if home depot has them
why won't the white coroplast work?
The opacity level is too high, and it won't allow enough light to pass through the column.
will it work with a white or a clear sheet
Both the white and the clear would create some issues on light dispersion. I would not recommend using them.
I just got my obey70 how do you set the chauvet obey 70
It's been so long that I don't remember. I would recommend checking out the instructions or online tutorials for that model. Sorry!
where can I buy the LED lights ???? Thank you for the video
Victor, I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I don't check this page often. You can buy them from Amazon.com, Musiciansfriend.com, guitarcenter.com, etc.
Thank you sir
And the glass?
victor mora Victor, I just saw a question from you about where to buy the "glass", but my screen refreshed and I lost it somehow. It's not actually glass - it's coroplast plastic sheets (natural color). I purchased the coloplast plastic sheets from a coroplast distributor. You can find the closest one to you by checking this web site: www.coroplast.com/distributor/ I had to drive about and hour and a half away to get them, but it was well worth the trip.
where do you buy the all national coroplast sheets from
I got them from a company in Greensboro, NC. I found the company by doing a search on www.coroplast.com/distributor/. I had to call a few places before I found one that had the natural color.
I found them just need to get the controller
Good luck! Amazon, Full Compass, and B&H are my sources for all things lighting.
22kingterry where did you find them?
In Kentucky
All I can get it is "White". Why won't that work?
White doesn't have the right opacity level to let light through. You can try it, but I'm fairly sure that the white would block 90% of the light from your LED pars. Plus, the white would reflect more of the ambient light in the room. If the columns are in a very dark part of your room where you get almost no ambient light wash, then white may be OK, but even then I doubt it. I had to travel a little to get the right coroplast. If you go to www.coroplast.com/distributor/ you can find the distributor closest to you. FYI - I'd call to make sure that the distributor you found has the sheets you want in stock.
💜💜💜💜💜
Thanks fellow Coulter
The few, the proud, the Coulters! Thanks Abe!
James Coulter i have made a few sets
,
AWESOME JOB... AND GREAT STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS......YOU MADE IT PLAIN AND CLEAR!!
Thank you!
How many columns do the materials listed in the description make? Also can i leave it at 8ft?
Hey there, Willis Family! The materials list made 8 columns, and yes, you can leave them at 8 ft.
Sorry, they made 4 columns, not 8!